Popular Culture and Philosophy

James Bond and Philosophy

Chapter 8
Title: The Moral Status of the Double-0 Agent: Thinking about the License to Kill
Author: Matthew Tedesco

Interesting item: Using some of Kant’s philosophy, the author claims that killing a killer, as Bond does, can actually be a demonstration of respect because it is treating them in the way they choose to treat others.

Interesting item: The ethics of James Bond’s use of assassination or his license to kill are determined by a balance between consequential views, where the result, not the act, is important, and deontological beliefs, where the act is important. Neither school of thought can be used exclusively because Bond’s assassinations of villains benefit society and consequentially ethically, but killing would be deontologically unethical.

Interesting item: The author relates some of the theory about assassinations to current events, such as balancing deontology and consequentialism with torture or state sponsored assassinations. Also, he talks about how a select few of real MI-6 agents actually have a license to kill (sort of) because they are exempt from British law for actions taken while in service. Also, he discusses how the U.S. and the U.N. officially ban assassinations, but the U.S. does have orders out for the assassination of figures such as Osama bin Laden.

Chapter 13
Title: James Bond and the Philosophy of Technology: It’s More than Just the Gadgets of Q Branch
Author: Steven Zani

Interesting item: The author asserts that James Bond is a person, while 007 is simply a technological device or tool that is of use to the British government. Heidegger claimed that a technology was something that had the capacity to make things real and others said technology was a means to an end, both which fits the description of Bond’s role as an agent.

Interesting item: The author mentions how different characters address James Bond and how their words reflect their views about him. For example, M and Q only address Bond as 007, indicating that they view him as an expendable tool to reach a certain goal. However, characters such as Moneypenny and even some of the villains address Bond as James or Mr. Bond, indicating a level of respect that acknowledges that he is a person.

Interesting item: Although it was kind of unrelated to the Bond series, the book noted how “the way in which one perceives an object determines its utility.” I thought an interesting idea brought up that was related to this idea and the idea of technology (with Heidegger’s definition) was about whether science has been so successful because of what it reveals about how the world works or because of how it represents the world.

Chapter 14
Title: “That Fatal Kiss”: Bond, Ethics, and the Objectification of Women
Author: Robert Arp and Kevin S. Decker

Interesting item: Some argue that Bond is sexist and immoral because he objectifies women and uses them as a means to an end, but the author points out that he also does this with most of the other characters. However, unlike his objectification of others, Bond’s actions towards women play no role in helping him complete his missions, so they are more ethically questionable.

Interesting item: John Stuart Mill, using a utilitarian perspective, would have argued that the negatives associated with Bond’s objectification of women such as more violence against women, more eating disorders, and poorer self-image outweigh the benefits of Bond’s objectification of women, so his actions are unethical. Also, Aristotle, using virtue ethics, would argue that Bond’s interaction with women are unethical because a virtuous person would not behave in such a way. Finally, Kant would argue that objectifying women is unethical because it ignores the person’s “inner worth”.

Interesting item: Although Bond still objectifies women in the films, the producers and director of the movies have made attempts to lessen this aspect of his character and are intentionally trying to create a more “modernized” Bond. The author cites The World Is Not Enough, where Bond is actually objectified by Electra King.

MY REVIEW
I thought this book was pretty well done. Of the essays I read, the arguments were easy to understand, examined several perspectives, and related well to the subject. Also, you don’t really have to know that much about the subject other than some of the basics in order to understand the arguments the authors were making. I think this gives the books a broader appeal. An aspect I liked about the book that it showed how philosophy and ethics can be applied to all sorts of scenarios. I also liked how the essays drew in current events or real-world scenarios, such as with terrorism or objectifying people in our society. Additionally, I liked how each chapter was its own separate essay, so you could pick and choose topics that you could understand or found interesting. The one aspect of the book that I disliked was how the authors assumed that real-life scenarios and the events or characters present in film and literature are the same. I think the authors ignored the distinction that, for most people, liking a character such as James Bond in an entertainment setting is much different than accepting as ethical the actions of a similar real person.

Title: Buddhism through the Eyes of the Dead
Author: Paul Glass

Interesting item: Buddhism was an inspiration for acid tests festivals, which consisted of art, music, and poetry. It was designed to accompany the audience through the trip and enhance it.
There are many Buddhist themes throughout the Grateful Dead songs because one of the lyricists was a Buddhist monk.

One of there main themes is enlightenment
Enlightenment= awakening to a deeper truth.
Also, there is a deeper reality behind the appearances that we normally accept as real.

Interesting item: The four noble truths, which was a central part of Buddhism
1. Our life, the cycle of life, death, and rebirth is suffering
2. The cause of the suffering is Karma (Karma=natural laws that guide us)
3. There is an escape from suffering which is Nirvana
4. The path to this escape are Buddha’s teachings

Interesting item: The Grateful Dead sing about suffering such as facing death and separation from friends. They also sing about the good things such as listening to good music or eating good food but this ultimately end in pain because Buddhism teaches that nothing in this world, not even our own life will last. Suffering comes from the fact that everything is impermanent and our awareness of it.

SELECTED CHAPTER
Title: The Electric Nietzsche Dead head Test: The Birth of Tragedy and the Psychedelic Experience
Author: David Macgregor Johnston

Interesting item: The author compared followers of the Grateful dead to followers of Dionysus. Dionysian festivals signified a break from the routine of everyday existence also like how drugs do.

Interesting item: Apollo represented individuality, strength to mold ones character whereas Dionysus was associated with poetry music and Drama also often defying limitations.

Interesting item: The author believed that the Grateful dead were descendents of Dionysus

SELECTED CHAPTER
Title: Thoreau-ing Stones: Wildness at the End of the Natural World
Author: Allen Thompson

Interesting item: The Grateful Dead song “Throwing Stones” is a political song about how society is corrupt and the chaos of the world will eventually destroy it. It is also about how the environment is being destroyed.

Interesting item: Henry David Thoreau said “in wildness is the preservation of the world” This is interpreted as recognizing that we ourselves are wild allows us to connect with the world. Thoreau also thinks that nature is always changing and we are apart of that change.

MY REVIEW

I liked this book overall however some of the ideas were complicated and confusing. I liked the ideas that they came up with and how a lot of the topics were so broad but there was a lot of information to read about. They did a good job linking the Grateful Dead to philosophy and I enjoyed reading it.

Pop Culture and philosophy
Superheroes
By Andrew Johnson

Book title: Superheroes and philosophy

This is book is a collection of essays about superheroes and how they help to explain some very complicated ideas in philosophy. Some of the philosophers we have read are talked about in the book such as: Plato, Aristotle, and Kant. I read chapters 13, 14, and 15, which all focus on Spider-man and they compared him to different ideas in philosophy.

Chapter 13- Compares spider-man to Kierkegaard. In this chapter it explains some of Kierkegaard ideas. Kierkegaard basic idea is that people have very difficult and hard lives because it is very hard to be unselfish and think about other people. Spiderman is a good example of somebody who has these difficult feelings. In this chapter it explains that Peter Parker is very happy when he meets MJ, but then he realizes that because of his job as spider-man he cant really ever be totally honest and truly love her. So what this is suppose to show is that spider-man is like Kierkegaard because he is suffering because he realizes that he needs to be a better person and finds it really hard to just be good.

Chapter 14- also looks at spider-man and some similar ideas. The chapter starts by talking about how in spider-man two Peter Parker stops being spider-man because he wants to just be Peter Parker. When he quits, the crime rate in New York City goes through the roof. Therefore, Peter faces a very difficult choice. He could go back to being spider-man but then he would suffer in his personal live, or he could stay away from being spider-man and enjoy his personal live but then the city would suffer. He is in conundrum because he is torn between whether or not he should look after his personal life and whether he should fulfill his duties to the people of New York City. The author of this chapter ties in this choice that Peter has to make to utilitarianism. In utilitarianism, the way you figure out whether something is right or wrong, is by looking at the consequences that your decision has for you and other people. Therefore, when you have two choices about what you should do, you are suppose to pick the one that will bring more overall happiness to the world. As a result in the case of spider-man, a utilitarianism philosophy would say that Peter Parker should be a super hero because the amount of good he can do by being super-man out weighs the personal pain that he has.

Chapter 15- The author uses spider-man to try to answer the question “why be a superhero?” The chapter goes on the explain that this is the same idea behind one of the most important question in all time philosophy which is” why be moral.” This is a very interesting question because if you think about it there are a lot of reasons not to be moral. One example of this is doing something that is good for you but hurt other people. Therefore, if you think about it is amazing that any body every does any thing moral because they don’t really have to. The author is this chapter comes up with several reasons for why people might choose to be moral. One possible reason is if you act immorally there may be negative consequences may happen to you. In addition, another reason that people act morally is that they think that it is the right thing to do. Another reason is people are afraid of how god will react. In the case of spider-man, we don’t really know why he chooses to do the right thing but this chapter got me thinking of why I do things that are morally right.

The Daily Show and Philosophy.

The Fake, The False, and the Fictional: The Daily Show as News Source.
Michael Gettings
Interesting item: A startling fact is that 21% of 18-29 year olds site the Daily Show and SNL as sources for their political news. Traditional news sources were the demographics sources only 23% of the time. Thought the Daily Show is a self-described fake news show, it is still a valid source.
Interesting item: The fake news on the show is not meant to deceive the viewers. Hyperbole and outrageous claims by the show is a method that is used to distinguish between the false and true news. However sometimes the material is so outrageous that Stewart has to tell the audience that it is true. This method is also used to relay truths to the audience, by having Stewart correct an ignorant correspondent, the audience is given accurate information.
Interesting item: An issue addressed by the show is the lack of journalistic integrity in the media. This is done by using the same methods as the cable TV shows, sensationalism, overexposing news and creating stories to a greater extent to satirize them.

The Daily Show Expose Of Political Rhetoric
Liam P. Dempsey
Interesting item: The political tactic of instead of attacking an issue, attacking the person presenting the issue is satirized by Colbert when he praised the republicans who supported wiretapping without a warrant.
Interesting item: One method that is used by the show to expose the madness in the political system and the media is by pretending to agree with it. When freedom fries and freedom toast was removed from the Capitol menu, Colbert lamented the end of the best thing to come out of a Republican controlled Congress. Another example is when he also said on his show in regard to the Iraq War that you’re either for American or with the terrorists and hate the country.
Interesting item: Colbert also satirizes fear mongering and overzealous patriotism by saying that the greatest threat to the nation is bears and madly waving a flag in the opening credits to his show.

Evolution, Schevolution, Jon Stewart and the Cultural Wars
Author: Massimo Pigliucci
Interesting item: To make light of current important issues, both sides of the argument are satirized.
Interesting item: Also to show the gravity of a situation, the show pretend that it is fake, and the fact that it is real shows its absurdity.
Interesting item: Stewart is unafraid to ask poignant question to reveal incongruences in ideas.

MY REVIEW
This book did more that talk about the methods used by the Daily Show. It showed how modern political and media strategies are used to manipulate data and the public with spin and deceitful techniques. The Daily Show uses these methods to show their own absurdity and the absurdity of those tactics. The book describes the subtle nuances used by the show to satirize while revealing greater truths. It is enlightening and explains the political tactics of our times. I would recommend it if you are fascinated with the Daily Show or political science.

Harry Potter and Philosophy; If Aristotle ran Hogwarts
SELECTED CHAPTER
Title: Dursley Duplicity: The Morality and Psychology of Self-Deception
Author: Diana Mertz Hsieh

Interesting item: This chapter was on psychology, not philosophy

Interesting item: The Dursleys, by hating the Wizarding World so much actually made it so it barely existed for them.

Interesting item: Likewise, people can want something so much that it becomes “real” in their minds.

SELECTED CHAPTER
Title: Is Ambition a Virtue? Why Slytherin belongs and Hogwarts
Author: Steven Patterson

Interesting item: All the house have “virtues” (Gryffindor has courage, Ravenclaw wit, Hufflepuff faithfulness and hard work) so why can’t Slytherin also?

Interesting item: Slytherin does have a virtue. Ambition is a virtue. Without ambition, capitalism wouldn’t work and the US would not have the identity as the superpower without help from capitalism.

Interesting item: Ambition becomes a negative thing however when taken to far.

SELECTED CHAPTER
Title: Why Voldemort won’t Die Already: What Wizards Can Teach us about Personal Identity
Author: Jason Eberl

Interesting item: Most people think that to have an identity you need a body. However, Voldemort doesn’t have a body and he definitely has an identity as one of the most feared wizards in the Wizarding World.

Interesting item: Locke says that if you can remember things and have a thinking minds, you have an identity. Therefore, Voldemort has an identity.

Interesting item: This chapter also deals with what happens if a person splinches themselves, and where their identity lies then. (Splinching is when Wizards who try and travel magically from one place to another by disappearing and then reappearing in another place, do it incorrectly and accidently leave part of themselves behind). The book says that in this case, your identity lies where you’re brain is because that is where you think and have memories, which are the two things one must have to have an identity.

MY REVIEW
In general, Harry Potter and Philosophy was an interesting read. However, I thought that the book would be more interesting than it was because Harry Potter, in many ways is very philosophical. The whole series can be summarized as a struggle between good and evil. Nevertheless, the chapters were interesting (if maybe taking some things a little too far) and I would recommend it.

The Office and Philosophy
Rachel Schneider

Title: What Dwight doesn’t know can’t hurt him-or can it? Deception and Self-Deception in The Office

Interesting item: The author talks about how Dwight’s ideas collide with Kant’s ideas. Kant said that it is always wrong to tell lies and most people agree that lying is wrong…but sometimes the point at which we stop the lies, or why it’s wrong to lie, is kind of fuzzy. They also mentioned how Kant believed that any deception is wrong because it violates moral law.
Interesting item: The two reasons of why it is wrong to lie are:
#1. Think of what principle you’re telling that lie on, and then think about what would happen if everyone adopted that principle. This is basically asking “What if everyone did it?”
#2. When you deceive someone, you’re treating them as means to an end vs. an end within themselves. This is like using people as instruments to carry out your will and not including them in the moral community.
Interesting item: There is a difference between deception and self-deception. Deception is when others deceive you. This is like all of the pranks that Jim and Pam pull on Dwight. There is also self-deception, for example, Dwight’s elevated position in The Office, because he thinks of himself as “Assistant Regional Manager,” which is a fake title. According to Epicurus, however, if you know nothing of the deception, you have not been harmed.

Title: For L’amour: Love and Friendship in The Office

Interesting item: There are two kinds of love, according to Plato
#1. Irrational Love → Mostly physical attraction, try to base off looks and desires
#2. Philial Loving → Appreciation of each others beauty and goodness; this kind of love is satisfying to the mind (vs. the body).
Interesting item: Aristotle thought that love should bloom from friendship. He thought there were three kinds of friendship:
#1. Friendship of Utility → Mutual benefit is gained. This kind of friendship most like a business relationship, and is not much more advanced or emotional that that.
#2. Friendship of Pleasure → Pleasure gained from mutually enjoyable experiences (office parties, dundies, dinner out, etc). This kind of friendship is not really shown in the tv show because most of the employees hate each other.
#3. Friendship of Vitue → Aristotle said that this is “Two bodies share one soul,” and the two people have common desires for each other’s good/well being. This seems like the most likely of the three to encourage love. Friendship of Virtue is what Jim and Pam start off having.
Interesting item: The author briefly mentioned “agape,” which is a Christian idea of unconditional love. This kind of love is most often found in families. The employees in The Office sometimes display characteristics of a family. They fight but also get along. They annoy each other but also have long lasting friendships. Michael thinks he’s the head of the house, and Dwight looks up to Michael like a son does to a father.

Title: Screws and Nails: Paper Tigers and Moral Monsters in The Office

Interesting item: No matter how hard you try to be successful everyday, there is always something that will go wrong, especially since the amount of stuff humans do everyday is enormous and insane. The author talked about fate and how no matter how hard you try, something during the day will go wrong. There are ways that things can go wrong by you actually trying as well.
Interesting item: There are three different reasons for moral failure:
#1. Evil (wanting to do wrong)
#2. Weakness of will (not being able to stop from doing wrong)
#3. Ignorance (not knowing that what is doing is wrong
*Then there is MORAL BLINDNESS → Michael Scott=know right and wrong/the rules, but still screw up (probably for a selfish reason).
Interesting item: Plato thought that all moral failure was caused by ignorance, failing to do what is right may be because you don’t know what is wrong. The author went on to tie this back to the reasons for moral failure: people are malicious, people desire to overpower rational and decision making skills, and also, people are ignorant, and do not know the right thing to do…

MY REVIEW
I enjoyed reading “The Office and Philosophy.” Some of the ideas were really original and unique. I felt like I gained some insight to the show and the characters, which is fun. I felt like a lot of the chapters were the same plot/genre/idea but with a different title. It was somewhat difficult to find three chapters that I could read all the way through and not be reading the same concept. I also enjoyed this project in general. It helps tie what we’re learning and something the students already like, together! It’s a good idea to teach the students how to apply the philosophy we’ve learned in real life.

Month Python and Philosophy: Nudge Nudge, Think Think!
Edited by Gary L. Hardcastle & George A. Reisch

SELECTED CHAPTER
Title: Chapter 2: “Life’s a Piece of Shit”: Heresy, Humanism, and Heroism in Monty Python’s Life of Brian
Author: Kevin Schilbrack

Interesting item: I found out that, after watching Monty Python for many years, there can be underlying preachiness under all the absurd comedy. In the section called “The Question of Humanism”, we see how Brian, the 13th apostle who is mistaken for the messiah. Everyone is trying to follow Brian but he claims, “You’ve got it all wrong! You don’t need to follow me! … You’ve got to think for yourselves. You’re all individuals”. The concept of having ‘courage to use your own reason’ is reflect in Kant’s philosophy

Interesting item: In ‘The Question of Heroism’, we learn about the absurdity of the world in The Life of Brian. Not just that world, but our world. We read that we have to face the consequences of being alive: that being, we’re all going to die eventually. One must live in the present moment and attempt to find out the actual, bare, given facts of existence. This is shown in the lyrics of the final song, “Always Look on the Bright Side of Life.”

For life is quite absurd,
And death’s the final world.
You must always the face the curtain with a bow.
Forget about your sin, give the audience a grin.
Enjoy it! It’s your last chance, anyhow.

Interesting item: The one point that echoes throughout the chapter is that The Life of Brian isn’t a criticism of what religious people believe, but HOW they believe, and their willingness to believe something because it was written in a book.

SELECTED CHAPTER
Title: Chpt. 11: Monty Python and David Hume on Religion
Author: John Huss

Interesting item: In the first paragraph, Huss states that Monty Python’s The Meaning of Life tells us there is doubt over whether God is actually real or not. Or to be more precise, there is doubt over whether God’s existence can be proved through a valid argument. This echoes the philosophy of the Scottish philosopher David Hume.

Interesting item: The “conceivable” and the “possible” are discussed in one section of the chapter, showing that whether something is conceivable or not depends more on the thinker. However, just because we can conceive something does NOT make it possible. When something physically inconceivable does happen, we, as the viewers, are baffled. This is reflect in a skit called “Confuse-A-Cat” (shown in class).

Interesting item: Another interesting point Huss makes is how belief of a God can relate to fear. In the Meaning of Life, a school chaplain leads a hymn of schoolboys, with the lyrics, “O Father, please don’t boil us”.

SELECTED CHAPTER
Title: Chpt. 19: Word and Objection: How Monty Python Destroyed Modern Philosophy.
Author: Bruce Baldwin

Interesting item: Monty Python gives us the tendency to dismiss philosophical ideas. Quote: ‘Monty Python paved the way for the utterly ridiculous idea that anyone anywhere can not only pass judgment upon philosophical matters, but do so on national television.” It makes it harder to distinguish who are the REAL philosophers here.

Interesting item: Wittgenstein says ‘language matters’. Monty Python throws this out the window. This is reflected in the famed Dead Parrot sketch. The owner keeps on denying the death of the parrot, and while Cleese and Palin are having a proper argument about life and death, grammar Nazis are going crazy in front of their TV screens. Wittgenstein is turning in his grave, I tell you!

MY REVIEW
After reading through the book, I would recommend it, as it is a really good insight into how absurdity and something as silly as Monty Python can raise so many philosophical issues: the denial of God’s existence, question about the afterlife, the meaning of life, and how philosophy can be fully embraces in the Pythonesque world while some other philosophical ideas are thrown out the window. The only problem with the book is that there was too much continuation with discussion of the movies like Life of Bryan and Meaning of Life etc. I would have liked the writers to talk more about the skits in Flying Circus and what kind of philosophical ideas we can get from those.

The Sopranos and Philosophy: I Kill Therefore I Am

SELECTED CHAPTER
Title: The Prince and I: Some Musings on Machiavelli
Author: David Hahn
Fyi- he= Tony Soprano
Interesting item: Renaissance Florence is like modern day Jersey. There are a bunch of un-unified city states, all of which have inner turmoil (like the different factions of the mob) and all of the city states have to worry about external factors (like other countries) invading them and such- Tony Soprano has to worry about the police, the Russian mob, and others putting him “out of business”

Interesting item: Rather than let his uncle “stage a hit” at his restaurant, he burns it to the ground, citing that it’s better to rebuild with the insurance money than go out of business because the patrons are afraid of being shot… the ends justify the means. He also pretends that his uncle is in charge while he runs the show. That way his uncle is happy and not causing problems for him- this goes with Machiavelli’s ideas that a Prince might have to act one way on the surface but be acting the opposite in truth.

Interesting item:
Machiavelli says that fortune is good in moderation. If there’s a little it can help (for Tony, someone trying to complete a hit in him double parked his car was unable to kill him because of that) but one must take precautions incase they cannot control the situation, Tony has not done this to Machiavelli’s standards

SELECTED CHAPTER
Title: A Moral Never-Never Land: Identifying with Tony Soprano
Author: James Harold

Interesting item: People like Tony Soprano in spite of themselves. They know he is an evil man who does evil things but they like him because he’s a fictional character. If he were real, people wouldn’t feel this way, so the question is, do characters like Tony Soprano warp the moral fiber of the audience watching them? Plato worried in The Republic that people listening to poems like The Odyssey would be inclined to follow that characters they liked even if they were for some reason bad because the recitation of the poem got such a reaction from the audience. It is the same now with Tony Soprano.

Interesting item: It’s different from Mafia movies (like The Godfather) for three main reasons
1. It’s much longer so we see more of all of the characters, providing us with a deeper psychological connection
2. In the mafia movies, we never saw inside the characters’ minds as intimately as we see Tony Soprano
3. It’s strikingly realistic. It isn’t all killings and gore, they also talk about the lives of the people, and the family has problems just like any other family
For these reasons, we are more inclined to be emotionally connected and thus like the characters more even if they do bad things (we feel like we understand their motivations, and that they are justified).

Interesting item: Does this all really matter? Are we morally wrong for liking such an immoral character? No, not really. In fact, watching the show can help us reflect on our own morals and cause us to be better people even. We recognize that Tony Soprano is a bad person, if we find ourselves seriously agreeing with his ideology, most of us will take a second look at what we think

SELECTED CHAPTER
Title: Is Carmela Soprano a Feminist? Carmela’s Care Ethics
Author: Lisa Cassidy

Interesting item: the “female voice” for moral questions- traditionally, the people making the ethical decisions, the men, thought in terms of right and wrong. You have to look at the choice objectively and decide if it’s right. The female voice is different, they make their decisions based off of their loves ones as opposed to ethical imperatives.

Interesting item: Carmela is the anti-feminist, and yet she subscribes to this feminist view- She tells a friend to think of her children and the church’s position when that friend wants to divorce her husband. Divorcing him would be the right thing to do objectively, but when she looks at her obligation to her children, the decision changes.

Interesting item: I don’t really see how this is a feminist idea- the author says, some feminists say this reinforces stereotypes, but in Carmela’s situation, she isn’t passive. She chooses to be in the role she is, and is not afraid to throw in a witty remark if the situation calls for it. That way she uses the
‘Female voice” but is still strong.

MY REVIEW
Let me start by saying, I’ve never seen The Sopranos, so when I started this book I had little idea of what I was going to see. This book did a good job of explaining the situations they talk about so that people who hadn’t seen the show, like me, weren’t lost. I thought most of the philosophy wasn’t just a stretch to fit in, the philosophy really fit with the parts of the show (especially the Machiavelli part, Tony references Machiavelli directly in the episode). This book is also really god at binging up the ethical part (which is bigger than the philosophy in this show, really. I would recommend it to the students next year; I might even try to watch a few episodes because the book was so interesting.

Bob Dylan and Philosophy: It's Alright Ma (I'm Only Thinking) 2006

“I GOT MY BOB DYLAN MASK ON”: BOB DYLAN AND PERSONAL IDENTITY
authors: Peter Vernezze and Paul Lulewicz

"It's Halloween. I got my Bob Dylan mask on."
1. The First View of Personal Identity: The idea that is “same body, same person.” It is the physicalist view.

2.The Second View of Personal Identity: the second view deals with the "memory view" and psychological traits. Locke said “I am the same person as someone from an earlier period if I have a consciousness or memory of myself as that person.” As long as you remember being a person from earlier (like your childhood) then you’re that person.

3. The third view of personal identity: the eternal soul. The eternal soul stays in the same body through out time.

JUST LIKE A WOMAN: DYLAN, AUTHENTICITY, AND THE SECOND SEX
authors:Kevin Krein and Abigail Levin

1. Urban Materialism: In "Like a Rolling Stone" a woman has fallen from a position of privilege. The song goes on to talk about the female and how they were the center of attention, pompous and such.

2. Idealized Women: Dylan wrote a lot of songs that were opposite of "Like A Rolling Stone" where he talks about the non-urban spaces and innocent women who haven't been corrupted yet. These scenes are displayed through songs like "Never Say Goodbye" and "Time Passes Slowly"

3. Utopian Visions: Dylan fantasized his way out of the bad things going on through his music. His pastoral utopias are an attempt to retain the good utopian dream worlds by eliminating the urban dream world and replacing it with uncorrupted scenes.

THE FREE WILL OF BOB DYLAN
author: Martin van Hees

1. Davey Moore was a boxer and died after a fight against Sugar Ramos and later Dylan wrote a song called "Who Killed Davey Moore?" The song talked about everyone's reasons for why they weren't responsible for his death. Ramos called it destiny. So everyone was responsible.

2. The song "Ballad of Hollis Brown” talks about how a farmer's desperation leads him to killing his wife, 5 kids, and himself. It's a protest song about the injustice of societies where people live in terrible conditions.

3. How can we bear responsibility for tragic events, if such events are inevitable? The course of history is only partly fixed. The non-fixed part is which tragic events will happen, and how they will occur. We can't escape fate, but we can give it a twist.

MY REVIEW
I enjoyed the book. I really thought the personal identity chapter was interesting and I liked the examples they gave. I’m not sure how useful the book was to me though. It didn’t really have a large impact on me. I thought it was a good topic for a philosophy pop culture book though. I think I would recommend it to Dylan fans, because they refer to a lot of his songs.

The Chronicles of Narnia and Philosophy

CHAPTER 6
Title: Worth Dying For: Narnian Lessons on Heroism and Altruism
Author: Laura Garcia

Interesting item: A Narnian Hero is someone who would die for a friend, a promise or a moral Principle. Eustace is a character that exemplifies this trait.

Interesting item: The essay used Hobbes philosophy to answer the question “is true selflessness possible?” According to Hobbes, selfishness is simply sanity and tendency toward self-sacrifice or altruism is basically nothing more than disguised self-seeking.

Interesting item: In Narnia genuine love for others is what pull people out of their selfishness and encourages them to self-secrifice for the betterment of others.

CHAPTER 13
Title: No Longer a Friend: Gender in Narnia
Author: Karin Fry

Interesting item: Susan is excluded from eternal happiness with Aslan seemingly because she was feminine.

Interesting item: In The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, Father Christmas enforces stereotypical gender roles by giving each of the children gifts that explicitly pertain to gender roles.

Interesting item: Evil in Narnia tends to have a feminine face, while female heroic characters usually ‘overcome’ the setbacks of femininity to become heroic.

CHAPTER 14
Title: Plato in Narnia
Author: Gareth Matthews

Interesting item: There is a chapter called The Silver Chair, that alludes the Narnian underworld to the cave in Plato’s Allegory of the Cave.

Interesting item: The allusions include that the underworld is dimly lit, there are prisoners chained to chairs, and the prisoners are kept unaware with entrancing music and fumes.

Interesting item: The Queen of the Underworld tries to convince the prisoners that the overworld of Narnia is not real – that it is imaginary. This is a practically direct parallel to the Allegory of the Cave.

MY REVIEW
I found the readings only moderately interesting. I got a little screwed over while selecting the Pop Culture and Philosophy books because I was late to class and all of the good books were already chosen. I have never read any of the Chronicles of Narnia books, so, I found this assignment a little boring and dumb. I really wish I could have had a more interesting topic. I think the subject matter really determines how much a student would enjoy this project. I am sure this book would be great for someone who has read The Chronicles of Narnia, so I would recommend it. It was rather confusing for me, so I would only recommend this book to people who have a good understanding of

U2 and PHILOSOPHY How to Decipher an Atomic Band

SELECTED CHAPTER
Title: Staring at the Sun: U@ and the Experience of Kierkegaardian Despair
Author: Hubert L. Dreyfus and Mark A. Wrathall

Interesting item: Bono believes in achieving a balance between head and heart in order to resolve the tension in dualistic philosophy

Interesting item: Only know you were in despair after you get out of it

Interesting item: The song “Peace on Earth” shows U2’s belief that people aren’t made to choose between their two aspects

SELECTED CHAPTER
Title: U2 and the Problem of Evil
Author: Trenton Merricks

Interesting item: When people reject God because of evil, it shows that they are struck with the conviction that our world is not in the hands of a loving all-powerful God because they don’t believe that that God would allow this Earth to exist.

Interesting item: The song “Wake Up Dead Man’ shows U2’s reaction to evil with anger, frustration and hope..

Interesting item: The refrain of “Wake Up Dead Man” U2 asking Jesus to wake up and do something, which is the promised resurrection

SELECTED CHAPTER
Title: “Until the End of the World”: U2, Eschatology and Heidegger’s “Being-toward-Death”
Author: V.S.Benfell III

Interesting item: Heidegger believed that humans are constrained by the network of relationships and places rooted in a particular moment that defines their existence.

Interesting item: In day-to-day existence we forget ourselves in the preoccupations of our daily lives, and we deal with this by coming face to face with death.

Interesting item: “Playboy Mansion” reflects the ideas of Heidegger.

MY REVIEW

I thought that the readings were interesting. I most enjoyed the ones that involved philosophers that I already knew about. It helped me a lot. I wish that I had read this book before I did my Heidegger presentation, because I understand him much better now that they compared him to U2. I also think that it gave a lot of helpful insight to different psychological ideas. I think that other people should read this book, especially if they are U2 fans. It was interesting to learn more about their beliefs, and how they portray their personas and beliefs in their music. I also think that it has a place for people who are not U2 fans, since it teaches difficult philosophical ideas in a way that is easy to understand.

The Matrix and Philosophy By Steve Irwin

SELECTED CHAPTER
Title: Computers, Caves and Oracles: Neo and Socrates
Author: William Irwin

Interesting item: Neo's life is often compared to Jesus', but is actually more similar to that of Socrates.

Interesting item: Both Neo and Socrates were filled with questions: “What is the Matrix?” “What is the meaning of life?”

Interesting item: Neo realizing he is the one is like the man coming out of the cave.

SELECTED CHAPTER
Title: The Matrix Possibility
Author: David Mitsuo Nixon

Interesting item: It is completely possible that we are all living in a simulated world similar to the Matrix.

Interesting item: It is impossible to determine if this world is real or simulated.

Interesting item: If we do live in a simulated reality, events like those in the Matrix are possible if that version of the simulated reality theory is correct.

SELECTED CHAPTER
Title: The Metaphysics of The Matrix
Author: Jorge J.E. Garcia and Jonathan J. Sanford

Interesting item: The main question rising from The Matrix is “What is--” anything?

Interesting item: What is the difference between what is usually classified as real, and things that are classified as unreal (dreams, images...)?

Interesting item: There is a balance between the “real world” and “our world.” Our world only exists as long as the machines run the program of the world. However, they need the humans' bodies to get energy.

MY REVIEW
While this book had some interesting articles, I found that outside online essays were much more relevant. Websites such as http://www.simulation-argument.com/ and the Wikipedia article on Simulated Realities were incredibly interesting and thought provoking. Discussions with my friends were also very helpful in understanding some of the philosophy that arose from The Matrix. Because these articles were so interesting, I find myself constantly wondering if we are, in fact, living in a simulated world. There was a webcomic (http://www.xkcd.com/395/) in which a woman is shocked when she sees dead pixels in the morning sky. The idea seems absurd, but technically, it cannot be unproven. However, this only adds to my theory that I am a complete hypocrite, because I believe slightly in the simulation argument mainly because it cannot be unproven, but I disagree with almost everything else that falls into that category of theories. Religion, for one, is a philosophy that I find myself constantly struggling to believe in. However, most of the time, it cannot be disproved. So, in conclusion, the book was fascinating, the online articles were even more so, and no one exists.

The Beatles and Philosophy

Chapter 3
Title: All You Need Is Love: Hegel, Love, and Community
Author: Jacob M. Held

Interesting item: Love is not just an emotion, but the ideal way of relating to other human beings. The author recognizes the human need for relationships and that we are communal beings and “get by with a little help from our friends”.

Interesting item: The author claims that love is a mutually respectful interdependence and is self-less. This idea contradicts most Anglo-American social and political tradition, which more or less depict humans as self-interested pleasure seekers. This gives us a lonely and isolated picture of existence and proves that humans have a fundamental need for love and community.

Interesting item: All humans are bettered through our relations to others. The author uses the example of the Beatles as a band. Each member is essential to the group. Alone, they would have much less success, but because they are a group, they are allowed to achieve greatness.

Chapter 12
Title: I’d Love to Turn You On: The Beatles and the Ethics of Altered States
Author: Jere O’Neill Surber

Interesting item: How ‘normal’ is the normal state of consciousness? A lot of the Beatles’ work suggests that there are a variety of states of consciousness that are naturally occurring (Emotional memory, intense love, sleep, ‘cosmic vision’, dreaming). Why is “normal” privileged over the others?

Interesting item: How ‘ethical’ is the normal state of consciousness? Heidegger defines our natural state is a state of auto pilot, routine, follow-the-crowd, where life is passive and meaningless. Is this normal state rational or moral? Also, both ‘normal’ states of consciousness and ‘non-normal’ states of consciousness are capable of producing ‘immoral’ results. For example, talking on a cell phone while driving could have equally disastrous consequences as being high and driving.

Interesting item: Can I treat myself immorally? Because of the above argument, we cannot claim that the use of drugs to alter our states of consciousness is bad because of potential consequences. Therefore, there must be something wrong with the actual practice. Kant claims that we have moral duties a person owes to him or herself, one of which is refraining from physically harming ourselves. Then we have to question whether or not using artificial means to alter our states of consciousness is ‘harmful’.

Chapter 14
Title: Take a Sad Song and Make It Better: The Beatles and Postmodern Thought
Author: James Crooks

Interesting item: First, I would just like to say that this was the most difficult chapter to get through. I struggled to understand what “Postmodernism” is, and am still not quite sure what it means. However, my understanding of the idea of “Postmodernism” is that it is a rebellion or revolt against the ideas of modernism.

Interesting item: The Beatles’ song Revolution points out the ambiguity and self-contradiction found in Postmodernism. Postmodern thinkers protest 19th/20th century ideas of technology, social progress, free markets, etc. However, on closer inspection, those values and methods are themselves revolutionary. This means that the revolt of postmodernism (or the revolt against modern culture) is a revolt against revolution.

Interesting item: The author compares “Postmodernism” to the “Sad Song”, claiming that it is pessimistic and shows us that intellectual sophistication sometimes condemns us to misery. However, this is where the Beatles achieve their greatest insight. Their critique of culture is grounded in an enduring celebration of LOVE! They “take a sad song and make it better.” The author says, “Our pessimism, no matter how sophisticated, our sadness, no matter how deep, is soothed and sheltered by the simple opening of the heart.”

MY REVIEW
Overall, I really enjoyed reading the chapters of this book. I think it made for a very interesting and enjoyable assignment. I have always like the Beatles and their music, but this assignment made me really think about the ideas behind their music. It also made the idea of Philosophy more relevant to my life and my interests. I would definitely recommend it for other philosophy students, especially if they already enjoy Beatles music. I think if general readers were interested in Philosophy in Pop Culture, they would enjoy this book. It also made interesting social commentary on the time period during which the Beatles were prominent and popular. The last chapter I read, however, was incredibly difficult to understand. Some of the writing was incredibly dense and tricky to interpret or decipher. This would be a hard book to read out of the context of a philosophy class, especially if the reader had no experience with philosophy or terms and ideas introduced in a basic philosophy class. Overall, though, it was a very interesting book to read and introduced new and intriguing ideas.

Quentin Tarantino and Philosophy

SELECTED CHAPTER
Title: Tarantino’s Films: What Are They and What Can We Learn from Them?
Author: Bruce Russell

Interesting item: Jules: “Divine intervention”
Vincent: “Luck”

Interesting item: What is a miracle? If it in fact means to go against laws of nature, and the devil exists, could he not as well create miracles? (Tile falling off roof onto someone’s head.)

Interesting item: ‘Pulp Fiction’ raises questions of morality, and miracles but never seems to answer them.

SELECTED CHAPTER
Title: The Moral Lives of Resevoir Dogs
Author: James H. Spence

Interesting item: Mr. Pink’s reasons for not tipping…
1) Waitresses aren’t starving
2) Most minimum wage jobs don’t involve tipping
3) Do not control tax policy
4) Waitresses chose their job

Interesting item: Raises ethical and morality based questions…
1) Questioning responsibility
2) The needs of others
3) Whether tipping is an arbitrary custom
4) The character of a person who does not tip

Interesting item: Raises an interesting concept…Debating about such a trivial topic and morality when casual violence is about to ensue…

SELECTED CHAPTER
Title: Kill Bill: Tarantino’s Oedipal Play
Author: Mark T. Conard

Interesting item: All of Tarantino’s films follow a cycle of violence.

Interesting item: Nietzchean terms – only the strong can escape the violence. If you can’t be a meaning creator – you’ll get killed. However, the reason you get killed is not because you kill: everyone kills. You are killed because you do not notice the danger signs around you.

Interesting item: Jules ‘sees’ the signs and stops – therefore, he does not die. Vincent, however, is ‘blind’ and does not see the signs – therefore, he does die.

MY REVIEW
For the most part, I really enjoyed “Quentin Tarantino and Philosophy.” The readings were extremely entertaining and useful for those who have seen the movie. However, if you have not seen any of the movies that they discuss it can be a little confusing. For this assignment, I rented “Pulp Fiction” and “Resevoir Dogs” so that I could understand the reading more. I thought that once I had watched the movies, I was able to understand the context more. I read a lot of chapters that had to do with morality and ethics. I thought that it was extremely interesting, but not exactly useful for everyday life. I would, however, recommend this book to those who enjoy Quentin Tarantino films. It was interesting to see what conclusions these authors came up with. However, I would not recommend it to readers who have not seen the movies, for they might become confused.

Mr. Vergin- I'm writing this after I returned my book, based on my notes, so I don't have the authors of the essays.

Tolkien's Six Keys to Happiness-

1. Delight in simple things- Hobbits have a Epicurean/Thoreau lifestyle, look for close relationship to others over power and wealth.

2. Make light of your troubles- Hobbits remain cheerful in light of harships.

3. Get personal- Friendships are the key to success in Middle-Earth, people who have good friends do best.

4. Cherish and create beauty- beauty inspires and refreshes, demonstrated by the elves.

5. Cultivate good character- In Middle-Earth good guys finish first, so if you're a good person you'll be happy and do well.

6. Rediscover wonder- some of the happiest characters are those who are absorbed with the natural realm, free of desire.

Choosing to Die: The Gift of Mortality in Middle-Earth-

1. Men, hobbits, and dwarves, who die, see immortality as a gift, eleves, who are immortal, see death as a gift.

2. Because we are mortal, humans spend a lot of time thinking about death, but would immortality be boring?

3. Most people think living is better than dying, but Tolkien thinks that death is better than an unnatural existence.

Tolkien and Modernism and the Importance of Tradition:

1. Tradition gives us moral wisdom to overcome technology and power.

2. Two of the main villains, Saruman and Denethor, have turned away from the traditional way, as a result Saruman is stabbed in the back by his assistant and Denethor sets himself on fire.

3. While Pippin and Samwise are both good guys, Pippin, who refuses to listen to elders, often puts the missions in danger, while Sam, who is obsessed with "stories of the old days," rarely makes a mistake in judgment.

Seinfeld and Philosophy: A Book about Everything and Nothing

SELECTED CHAPTER
Title: Jerry and Socrates: the examined life
Author: William Irwin

Interesting item: Jerry uses his show to teach people what happens in certain situations while Socrates uses analogies that help us see the inner meaning of things.

Interesting item: Jerry is to Jerry on the Show as Socrates was to Plato. Using real life experience and then using another person to show it to everyone.

Interesting item: Socrates was a man devoted to principles and wanted people to look within themselves to learn. Seinfeld was not a man devoted to principles but when people watch the show it has people look within themselves as well.

SELECTED CHAPTER
Title: The Secret of Seinfeld’s Humor
Author: Jorge J.E. Gracia

Interesting item: We laugh at something because we see in it the significance of the insignificant, and that we cry at something else because though it we grasp the insignificance of the significant. We look at our own lives when we see something small happening that we are use to.

Interesting item: The show makes small misunderstandings into big complications like when a reporter thinks that George and Jerry are gay with each other after a joke that went too far.

Interesting item: Things that would normally be sad, such as a loss of a job or a bad relationship, are made into something funny on the show to show weird things about society.

SELECTED CHAPTER
Title: George’s Failed Quests for Happiness
Author: Daniel Barwick

Interesting item: Doing the opposite “Yes I will do the opposite. I used to sit here and do nothing and regret it the rest of the day. So now I will do the opposite and I will do something.”

Interesting item: Aristotle and George are opposites because they think about what man seeks in life in a completely different way. Aristotle rejects the widespread belief that value judgments are a special kind of judgment.

Interesting item: Aristotle thinks that the definition of happiness or the good life is activity in accordance with virtue, and thus is the harmonious fulfillment of man’s natural tendencies. George does not fit this because he hates almost everything about himself. (Looks, personality, life)

MY REVIEW

The readings were interesting because it made me think closer at some of the episodes of the show that I have watched. The book itself was very repetitive and could have cut down a lot but it was interesting. I would recommend this book for people that really like Seinfeld but not if you do not know the show very well because it discusses many episodes and personality types of characters.

Star Wars and Philosophy

Chapter - "The Force Is with You... but You're Not a Jedi Yet"
1. “I’ve got a bad feeling about this.” This phrase occurs in each episode of Star Wars, and the meaning of it can be very philosophical. This is an intuitive response to an undefined problem and makes us question our relationship to the world. In the first chapter of the book, it talks about the philosophy of Predestination. Such as Anakin being foretold to have a clouded future. Or with Luke, who was told by Obi-Wan and Yoda that to become a Jedi he must fight Darth Vader for a second time
2. The scenes where Yoda and Obi Wan tell Luke what he must do in his future give rise to philosophical questions concerning freedom and moral responsibility. For Anakin’s upbringing Obi-Wan seems to have a lot of “hope” in Anakin. Does Anakin have a moral responsibility to follow in Obi-Wan's beliefs of him? I thought these ideas were interesting.
3. Likewise in our own lives our futures are very “clouded” and perhaps the lack of uncertainty of our future allows us to freely choose what action we’ll take to determine the future for ourselves. Found that interesting.

Chapter - "You Cannot Escape Your Destiny" (Or Can You?): Freedom and Predestination in the Skywalker Family
1. Clouded this Boys future is - I never thought about predestination when I watched the movie, I thought Yoda saying that quote was him simply "trying" to understand the future, however it did come true so maybe Yoda can "forsee the future"
2. Everything is proceeding as I had Foreseen - Darth Sidious says this quote, yet in The Empire Strikes Back, he warns Vader that Luke "could destory us." Darth Vader also shares this thought. It seems that many of the characters in Star Wars especially those strong in one side of the force have the ability of foresight.
3. I thought it was also interesting when Luke declares that he will never join the Dark Side of the force. After beating down Vader, Darth Sidious tries to convert Luke to the dark side, yet Luke chooses not to. And since Luke shows this free choice, it stumbles Darth Sidious. I thought it was interesting since I never looked at free choice and his reaction like that.
Chapter - "Religious Progmatism"
1. Hope - Its interesting to finally understand some of the philosophy behind the hope that Yoda has. Such as his hope in Luke that he will not be like Anakin despite his anger and age.
2. Faith - Martin Luther King had tremendeous faith that whites and blacks would one day be equal and today it seems that it has become true. The Faith that Martin had when he made that statement could be seen as a similar faith to Yoda. I found that connection really interesting because it brings Star Wars into current news.
3. I thought the point about when to have faith was interesting as well. The book says that the only time we can have faith is when something is intellectually undecidable. Meaning if something could be explained with simple reasoning, then there is no need for faith. I think this is the way a lot of non-religious believers view faith as well.

Pink Floyd and Philosophy: Careful with that Axiom, Eugene!

Ch. 14
Title: Wish You Were Here (But You Aren’t): Pink Floyd And Non-Being
Author: Jere O’Neill Surber

Interesting item: historical philosophical struggle with non-being, from Parmenides to Marx, including Hegel’s flowing

Interesting item: Marx’s 4 kinds of alienation
1. self-alienation (Brain Damage)
2. alienation of the “thing” (Welcome to the Machine)
3. alienation from other persons (Us and Them)
4. alienation of man’s “species being” – modern humans are not living to work and create, but merely working to survive

Interesting item: non-being as absence (existentialists with Sartre) – loss, sadness, disappointment, aging, death (Comfortably Numb)

Ch. 15
Title: It’s All Dark: The Eclipse of the Damaged Brain
Author: Randall E. Auxier

Interesting item: stepping through the doorway into the void with the help of “Brain Damage” – exploring the limits of consciousness, and with it, sanity

Interesting item: power of music to create timelessness – an experience involving future urges, present experience, and past interpretation; perception, conception, imagination, mantras

Interesting item: Sartre’s theory of perception – what we perceive is simply the images we imagine. Consciousness consists entirely of those images and the conceptual part of our brains that attaches meaning to them. We are constantly annihilating perceptions and replacing them with our imitations. Satre: there are 4 kinds of annihilation, you can believe the object you are annihilating is non-existent, absent, elsewhere, or, most disturbingly, you can leave its existence in a neutral state. Pink Floyd makes use of this – draws us into the existential pit of meaninglessness.

Ch. 3
Title: Dark and Infinite
Author: Sue Mroz

All about the movie “The Wall”

Interesting item: Carl Jung – lucid dreaming; when set to music, in a dark room, it’s a guided, freeing type of meditation, a conversation between consciousness and unconsciousness

Interesting item: Leonard Shlain – right vs. left hemisphere. Right = holistic appreciation of images (whether visual, auditory, or other type of sense). Left = linear thought. Film combines both.

Interesting item: what works – sense of emotional trauma
What doesn’t – estrangement

MY REVIEW
I was familiar with only a few Pink Floyd songs prior to this project. Now I highly recommend both their music and this book to anyone and everyone. The chapters I read were written in a very engaging manner and dealt with very interesting subjects, all readily applicable to a course in philosophy. More importantly, even those without a background in academic philosophy will find these concepts intriguing and mostly accessible. To summarize the summary: HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.

Hitchcock and Philosophy: Dial M for Metaphysics
Summary by Isaac Muscanto

SELECTED CHAPTER
Title: Rope: Nietzsche and the Art of Murder
Author: Shai Biderman and Eliana Jacobowitz

Interesting item: Part of Nietzsche’s philosophy dwelled on the existence of select “supermen” in society – people who have such a strong “will to power” and can manifest it in a higher ways (like grand works of art or bringing a new order of living to society). If those supermen need to look past conventional morality to fulfill their will to power, then, according to Nietzsche, that is ethical.

Interesting item: The character Brandon in Hitchcock’s movie Rope, espoused philosophies reminiscent of Nietzsche’s superman – that people of superior intelligence and courage can get away with murder.

Interesting item: That resemblance only exists in passing, however, because the superman strives to use his will to power to bestow goodness on man, not death.

SELECTED CHAPTER
Title: Rear Window: Looking at Things Ethically
Author: Aeon Skoble

Interesting item: The chapter discusses whether or not we should view Jeffries’ actions with an ethical view of consequentialism. Or, in other words, if we should judge his voyeuristic actions based on the results of what he did instead of his motivations. For example, during one scene it becomes apparent a character in the apartment complex, Miss Lonelyhearts, is about to commit suicide. She later hears a composer playing his music in his apartment and decides to visit him. This leads directly to her falling in love with the composer. If Jeffries had intervened when it appeared she was about to commit suicide, he would’ve prevented her death but potentially stopped her from finding the “cure”. Instead, by not intervening, she ends up better off in the end. What view do take to judge his actions?

Interesting item: According to a utilitarian perspective, Jeffries’ actions of snooping on his neighbors are justified by the fact that they ultimately result in the capture of a murderer.

Interesting item: The article also debates whether or not we should view his actions negatively, since many of them were facially wrong in the current situation (not intervening on behalf of Miss Lonelyhearts, the action of voyeurism in and of itself).

SELECTED CHAPTER
Title: Plot Twists and Surprises
Author: Kevin Kinghorn

Interesting item: The article discusses physical probability – whether or not physical phenomenon are fundamentally deterministic. Current scientific research says that events on the micro-level (electrons) can be fundamentally random, which means that nothing can be certain to happen on any level.

Interesting item: There are two other types of probability – evidential and statistical. Statistical determines the odds that a certain event will occur and evidential determines whether or not a certain theory is true or false depending on the body of evidence there is.

Interesting item: The article discusses the role of evidential probability in the movie “Rear Window”. In “rear Window”, Jeffries’ begins to notice behavior in his neighbor, Lars Thorwald, that leads him to suspect him of murder. A friend of his who works as a private detective, reviews the evidence and believes the contrary. The key question is whether or not their opposing pieces of evidence and viewpoints fit into multiple theories (is he or isn’t he guilty?).

MY REVIEW
I felt this is a somewhat helpful activity. The book’s essays were alright and somewhat interesting, but I feel that in a number of essays I was reading someone groping around for possible philosophical revelations in places where they might not easily exist. On the other hand, some essays did a very good job explaining a philosophical concept and demonstrating how that plays out in a specific situation, using Hitchcock’s films as case studies. In conclusion, I would say that the quality or general usefulness of this activity depends on the topic and the essay itself. I know some topics might not yield as much philosophical insight (so to speak) as others.

Hip Hop and philosophy

SELECTED CHAPTER
Title: Ain’t (just) ‘bout da booty: funky reflections on love
Author: Tommie shelby

Interesting item: skepticism about romantic love
There are two types of love in rap vulgar and spiritual. Vulgar just phocuses on physical appearance. Most rappers sing about this today and believe that spiritual love is not worth their time, and that true spiritual love does not actually exist

Interesting item: love as completeness and eternal unity
Until we find true love, we are incomplete and unhappy. You cannot explain why you want to be with you’re lover forever, but you do. Some that believe that their life is already complete say they do not need love because life is already difficult enough and love usually brings extra drama that is un needed.

Interesting item: the mysteries of love revealed
To love is not to possess beauty but as Socrates says to love is to regard ones beloved perfectly beautiful DESPITE his or her flaws. Romantic love may not be for everyone, but it is not just “bout the booty” as most rappers say it is.

SELECTED CHAPTER
Title: Y’all CENSORED better recognize: hip hop’s dialectical struggle for recognition
Author: John Pitmann

Interesting item: Rapping and battling
Rap battlers like to make to make themselves seem soperior to others, and it “aint no joke” when rap battling because it has harsh disses and accusations.

Interesting item: ganksta rap struggle for recognition
In gangsta rap rapers try to prove that they are he most violent, dangerous and “hood” in there lyrics. In ganksta rap the stakes are higher the struggle is collective and not individual, make it big or don’t make it at all.

Interesting item: hip hop and “this makin’ dollars CENSORED
Hegel believes that philosophy’s history is based on the idea of succession and a life and death struggle of recognition, it is the same way in rap. Also karl marks beliefs are that wealth controls everything and that the capitalists who control the money will have the power. This is the same thing in rap as wu tang puts it “cash rules everything around me”

SELECTED CHAPTER
Title: how hip hop lyris mean
Author: Stephen thomson

Interesting item: Anti- thesis the lyricist narritive
Most rappers use an alternate adopted persona to tell their thoughts and actions. sean combs= p diddy/ puff
kimbery jones- tells stories about lil kim
calvin broadus= snoop dawg
marshal mathers= eminem
This is more entertaining for the listener and also helps artists reject claims because it is their alternate personality that is doing the bad deeds not themselves.

Interesting item: the eminem enigma
Eminem is an enigma as great as black hockey players, Vietnamese capoeira practitioners, Chinese Jamaican restaurants and white running backs because he seems to be the only white rapper who has earned respect from his peers and does emphasise his whitness (like rappers Vanilla Ice and DJ Snow)

Interesting item: mixin’ messages and narratives
This section asks how a listener is supposed to judge the reality and the philosophy in rappers lyrics when most of the lyrics are slang and don’t make much sense. The conclusion is that although rap uses ebonics and slang it is still an artwork that conveys meaning. Although rap is portrayed in an informal matter it talks about important problems in the world today.

MY REVIEW
• I thoroughly enjoyed this book because it took many different views on hip hop and explained them in fun different ways. It taught me that Rappers usually address their lifes problems and try to solve them (wheather it is hustling pimpin or roughin up homies)
• - bottom line is that hip hop and philosophy are examinations of life on the street and search for wisdom by those from the street.